What Would Jimmy Do?

I got on the subject of butterflies the past couple of days and actually wandered off the real reason I started to write about them….
One reason that butterflies seem to be associated with death is that they go through a kind of transformation and rebirth.
The cocoon stage is much like a death for the caterpillar as it basically decomposes through enzyme interaction to completely restructure and transform into a beautiful butterfly. It evolves from a land-bound crawling caterpillar to a winged, elegant butterfly that is often very colorful. I don’t know how much better a symbol for life after death there could be.

So this transformation, to many, carries a spiritual meaning. And it turns out that the different colors of butterflies have specific meanings to those in-tune with those meanings, signs and omens. The colors  can represent simple messengers of death or maybe even specific messages of hope.

Black Butterflies
Folklore describes black butterflies as either a negative or positive omen. In some cultures, seeing a black butterfly means death. Whose death it is very often is left up to the person witnessing the butterfly’s flight. It also could be interpreted just to mean the death of a job or a relationship. But the message of rebirth is often associated with a black butterfly.

White Butterflies
A white butterfly is usually viewed as a positive omen of good luck and prosperity. But some cultures believe a white butterfly fluttering around a person means the individual will die soon. Other cultures view a white butterfly as purity and the soul of their loved one or an angel.

Green Butterflies
The green butterfly is a symbol of love and prosperity. Seeing a green butterfly soon after the death of a loved one is a message of not just love, but that the deceased is prospering in Heaven. It delivers a message of great hope and joy.

Brown Butterflies
A brown butterfly is often said to be the actual spirit of the deceased. Some folklore states it is an ancestor spirit that arrives to warn of misfortune, such as death.

Orange Butterflies
If an orange butterfly appears soon after your loved one passes, then you’ve just received a vital message of love. the orange butterfly is believed to carry the message that there is life after death and that death is but a transformation like that of the butterfly.

Yellow Butterflies
Yellow butterflies appear on the scene soon after a loved one has passed with a message of hope. The hope of reuniting in the afterlife is made with each fluttering of this happy sunshine colored butterfly. The promise of new life through rebirth is delivered by the yellow butterfly.

Blue Butterflies
A blue butterfly may be the perfect spiritual message. It’s considered a message from our loved one since you’re no doubt feeling blue and sad in your grief and longing. A blue butterfly is a symbol of life and acceptance. It conveys the transformation from physical to spiritual.

Purple Butterflies
Purple butterflies aren’t very common, and this rarity makes their messages immensely powerful. This highly spiritual color is truly profound when gracing the wings of a butterfly. If you are lucky enough to receive such a messenger from your loved one, you can rest easy knowing they are at peace and happy in the spiritual realm. If you let it, this angelic messenger can give you healing through spiritual love.

Red Butterflies
The arrival of a red butterfly soon after the death of a loved on is often the messenger of someone who was very powerful and passionate in life. The message is one of happiness, love, and that life continues after death. If you’re angry over the loss of your loved one and can open your heart, the red butterfly can offer you release from those emotions. 

So not only are butterflies a reminder that life is fleeting and beautiful, when they appear, they offer a hope of new beginnings.
— 30 —

I started talking about butterflies yesterday. I think most people like butterflies — I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say, “Ugh — a butterfly” like they do with bugs or snakes…
Anyhow, they’re an interesting species and like all of God’s creatures, unique in their own way….
They’ve been around for 150 million years
There are over 20,000 types of butterflies
They can be found in nearly every environment (they live on every continent, except Antarctica)
They are considered one of the most successful species on Earth
Butterflies can only see the colors red, green and yellow
Their wings are actually transparent
They use their feet to taste
And — butterflies count not months but moments, and has time enough…..
— 30 —

I was trimming some of the bushes around our house a day or two ago. One of the bushes I cut back was a butterfly bush. Right after our house was finished, it was one of the first things that Claire wanted planted. It’s done well — almost too well, because it has to be trimmed pretty often to keep it from blocking a walkway. And — it does attract quite a number of butterflies…..

Back on November 2, I talked about Dia de los Muertos — the “Day of the Dead” being celebrated in Mexico. It’s a time to welcome the visiting souls of ancestors and family members to honor their memories. The rituals draw from pre-Hispanic beliefs, mixed in with Catholic traditions, especially from All Souls day and All Saints Day. 

On thing that I didn’t mention in my November 2 blog is that the arrival of the monarchs just happens to coincide with these celebrations…. and for some groups, that holds significant meaning. 
From what I can tell, butterflies are a common symbol of death among many cultures and religions. Almost every country in the world recognizes the connection between butterflies and death. The symbolism seems to have started back in Ancient Greece, where a butterfly sighting after the passing of a loved one was seen to represent the soul of the deceased. That symbolism is still respected today. 

Recently, I’ve been told by a number of people that when you see butterflies after someone dies, it may be a sign that your loved one is okay and in a better place. It may also be a sign that you’re on the path to healing. I suppose there isn’t any right or wrong interpretation of this symbol — if it brings comfort and peace during a difficult time, I think it’s great. 
— 30 —

Yesterday my neighbor and I had a discussion about this week’s election(s). I won’t bore you with our conversation of crooked politicians, corruption, dishonesty, stupidity, etc. 
Anyhow, my friend and neighbor said something like, they say money is the root of all evil and he allowed that it seems to be true — it was even written in the Bible. The quote is attributed to the Apostle Paul. 
But I’m pretty sure he never said that. I think what he actually said was, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” There’s a difference. I think Paul was not focusing on the possession of money, but the feelings and/or actions that go along with it.
— 30 —

I’ve written about this before — you can check this blog’s archives — but it was mostly about decoy airfields and other “make-believe” facilities. But I thought this hoax deserved a little more explanation. I’ve always thought it was an interesting story and it bears repeating in a little more detail…..
The bottom line is that behind D-Day’s success was one of the most sophisticated deception schemes ever devised.  Here’s the way it happened….

Hitler knew the Allies were planning an invasion. And he was sure they’d cross the English Channel at thePas de Calais (what the British call the Strait of Dover) to get to France, because it’s the shortest distance between Great Britain and the continent. But such a landing would put the troops smack dab in front of the strongest section of Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall” — a virtual suicide mission. So the allies chose Normandy for the landings instead.

To mislead the Germans, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff created a mythical 1st Army Group and based it in Britain near Dover. Eisenhower assigned George S. Patton, the American general the Germans most respected, to command this army — that didn’t exist.

To convince the Germans that this “army” was preparing for invasion, Eisenhower’s staff positioned inflatable tanks, balsa wood bombers, and canvas landing craft where the Luftwaffe could photograph them during aerial reconnaissance. Radio operators were assigned to generate routine radio traffic, and bogus intelligence reports and documents were “lost” and fell into the hands of the Germans. Local newspapers in the towns where the “army” was stationed even carried false marriage and death notices. 

One elaborate scheme included National Geographic magazine. The U.S. Army prepared a color spread depicting a variety of 1st Army Group insignias — shoulder patches and the like. When the magazine was published, they allowed some issues to be distributed, but then halted the printing, removed the bogus insignias, and released a revised version of the magazine. 

The Allies continuously drew attention to the Channel coast in the are of the supposed landing. During the weeks before the invasion, Allied airmen dropped more bombs on that area than anywhere else in France. Naval units conducted longer than expected maneuvers up and down the coast.

On the night of the Normandy invasion, Allied planes dropped silver foil on the “landing site” which German radar picked up as an invasion fleet crossing the channel narrows. At the same time, a radar blackout disguised the real movement toward Normandy. All this was designed to convince Berlin that it needed to prepare for an amphibious assault on Calais. By the time the invasion finally began, Hitler and his generals had been so thoroughly deceived that they believed the Normandy operation was a diversion. Instead of moving their reserve units to stop the Allies from reaching the beachheads, they continued to watch what they thought would be the main attack at, Calais, on the English Channel coast. By the time the Germans realized they’s been deceived, it was too late — the Allied troops had breached the Atlantic Wall and were headed toward Paris. 
So the “Phantom Army” achieved its objective — without ever firing a shot.
— 30 —

A woman met a man on the street who looked destitute. She slipped a dollar into his hand and whispered, “Never despair.” A few days later, the man met the woman and slipped nine dollars into her hand. “Here’s your winnings,” he whispered. “My winnings?” she asked. 
The man was a bookie. The horse “Never Despair” came in first, paying 8 to 1.

I’m not really sure why I thought of this old story, but I think it may have been because a few days ago, I looked up “hope,” when that was the topic for this blog. Several of the references I found also mentioned despair. So guess what — today’s topic is going to be despair.

During my lifetime, I’ve heard “never despair” a number of times, and it wasn’t referring to a horse. 
Never despair — one of those things that’s easier said than done. When I ran across despair when I was looking for hope, I suspect it’s because despair is probably one of the major challenges to hope. In fact, it’s defined as “the complete absence of hope.”

In Dante’s The Devine Comedy, the inscription to the entrance to Hell reads, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.” So according to Dante, despair is the essence of Hell.

And in the musical Les Miserables, there’s a song, sung by a dying woman (Fantine) who has been crushed by virtually every unfairness that life can deal a person…
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So much different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

So what is despair, really? I looked it up and it comes from a Latin word meaning “to be without hope.” 
But I’ve heard it said that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. The Bible even tells us that those who are broken will enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the rich, the strong, and the powerful.
So…. maybe a crisis is not necessarily a bad thing — but despair seems to be the bottom — someone in despair has not only lost hope, but decided the pain of the current situation is intolerable, and there is no prospect for a better future, or better days. That’s a little different than resignation — if someone resigns himself to the circumstances, he can accept the hand he’s been dealt — maybe grudgingly — but he can go on. But despair creates the sense that the cross of life has become too heavy to bear, and there’s just not enough of a fight left to go on.

I think despair is an especially lonely emotion — it’s a burden too heavy to share with someone else. If you’re able to truly share the burden, you’re likely to stop short of despair. 

Despair is the acceptance of what happens without an active response or resistance along with that loneliness. And of course, despair, like grief, comes uninvited — it’s never chosen. The only thing that can be done is try to end it.

Today, November 6, 2024, I think I’ve arrived at the door of despair — I’ve arrived at the threshold of “the complete absence of hope.” Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t thrown in the towel — I’m just going to have to recalculate and realize that my journey back to normalcy is going to be a long, tough road.
— 30 —

Today is election day — without doubt the most important one in my 67 years of voting. I’ve been a lot of places in this world and believe me, the privilege of voting shouldn’t be taken for granted. Don’t ever think of voting as your right, or duty — a lot of the world would give anything to have the opportunity to go to the polls today. Go vote!!!
— 30 —

Back a few years ago, I remember about writing about Twinkies — if I remember, there was a big uproar back then because the company that made them was going out of business or something like that. But some other company started making them, so all was good again. 

But today there was some nutritionist on one of the morning shows and was going on about how unhealthy the Twinkie is — and he made the, I guess, now famous claim that a Twinkie would stay fresh for 50 years or more. 

Well, I’m not sure where this all started, but I think it may have been during the cold war when people stocked survival foods in their household bomb shelters. For some reason a lot of people included Twinkies.

The truth is, a Twinkie’s shelf life is about 25 days. Actually, even that amount of time does seem like a lot of “stay fresh” time. But Twinkies are a processed food and contain no dairy products that can go bad in a hurry. If you check the label, you’ll find such ingredients as vegetable and/or animal shortening and partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed, or canola oil. These are all artificially produced fats and are more solid than clear liquid oils — and — are less likely to spoil. They are what supposedly help twinkles stay soft and tasty — but not for 50 years.
— 30 —

My niece and nephew recently sent me a book about ship wrecks on the Great Lakes. I found the book very interesting — it describes some of the earlier battles between mankind and the Great Lakes. 

Maybe because of that book, an interesting article caught my eye a few days ago. The book Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville was inspired by a real event that might have been even more spellbinding than the book. In 1820, the Nantucket whale ship Essex was repeatedly rammed by a large sperm whale and sank in the Pacific Ocean, leaving the 20 crew members adrift in three small whaleboats for 95 days. Only eight men survived.
Maybe truth is stranger than fiction…..
— 30 —

I have a whole different perspective of today, November 2, than I’ve ever had before. When I was growing up in Maysville, Oklahoma, I never heard of the “Day of the Dead.” We had Halloween and I knew of something called All Saints Day, but that’s about it. There were no church services or any kind of celebrations to even acknowledge the day existed. 

My first exposure to the “Day of the Dead,” came shortly after I had graduated and left Maysville — one year we were in Mexico for a few days over Halloween. That’s the first I learned of a November 2 holiday called Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead.) People celebrated the day by visiting the graves of deceased loved ones and setting up alters with their favorite foods, drinks, and photos. I was told that people believed that the souls of the dead return to visit their living families on this day. 

It made an impression on me — I had never been taught any such belief and had never given much thought to it…. but I remember thinking how great that would be if it was true. After meeting Claire, it wasn’t a foreign belief to her at all, and I assumed it must be a Catholic thing. But it’s become apparent to me that for the most part, people that celebrate the Day of the Dead don’t attach any religious significance to it — they see it as a day of merriment, remembrance, and acknowledgment of cultural roots.

So despite its bleak name, the Day of the Dead isn’t a time for mourning or for spooking friends and neighbors. It’s a celebration of life — a time to honor the memory of deceased loved ones, to pray for the souls in purgatory and ask for prayers from those in Heaven. 

I’m going to Mass today, for the first time on the Day of the Dead. Not to celebrate death, but accept it. After all, it’s something that comes — and is certain — for everyone. If I read my church’s teachings right, it’s something natural — a step toward Heaven.

I think about Claire all the time — one thing that consoles me is knowing that only what she did for herself died…. what she did for others and the world remains and is immortal.
— 30 —